Leaving a UR open for a short time after making a correction is useful if there is some communication going between the editor and reporter. It is also useful as a "bookmark" if the editor wants to keep an eye on the area.Make the change, verify what you can on the live map or a local field trip, and inform the reporter that you believe the problem is solved, wait a bit for the map to update, refresh bookmarks, etc....And ask the reporter to confirm that the problem is solved... wait for that response, or perhaps 2 weeks if no response, before closing the report.Yes, Los Angeles is blanketed with URs, most of which have no information and few have useful routing and GPS tracks. Unless there is something obvious in the area, it can be difficult to pin down the issue... if there even is one at all, given that users don't realize that the pin is dropped where they hit "report" and not where the map cursor is or where they are when they hit "Send"... and report-send will generally not provide tracks. The report seems to log the track between activating "Report" and tapping "Send"

I had one closed on me this morning. Another L2 sent the initial request for information to the reporter. The reporter indicated that they would provide more information, and the report sat for another week. I drove to the location, verified the issues, made corrections on the map, and sent a message to the reporter.I still intend to do more work in that area (new housing development), so the UR is nice to have as a reference pin.This morning, the editor who originally requested more information closed the report without comment. In fairness, my comment to the reporter did not indicate that I intended to do any further work, but it has only been a couple of days (I drove it and made the adjustments Tuesday, tiles updated on the area yesterday)

radjax wrote:what i see often is an editor clicks on multiple UR's and regardless of the message from the user ask a ton more questions from the reporter.

My concern in this thread is to prevent what amounts to deletion of URs. That is, closure with no attempt to understand or remedy the issue or to allow another editor to do so.

That being said, the scenario quoted is not cool etiquette. Canned responses are OK to start the conversation, but once the reporter responds the editor's brain has to engage and an attempt has to be made to solve the problem.

In areas where URs outnumber active editors by 500 to 1, it's a rational if desperate response to just start clicking and sending a canned inquiry to every one, at least to get the clock ticking. However if the canned response is humble, polite, and engaging, the number of responses may overwhelm the editor who does this. That's why I don't go hog wild sending canned responses to a vast area.

URs that have a request for more information but no reporter response for at least a week after the inquiry are eligible to be closed. Per etiquette the first responder has dibs on closing, so if I can't see what went wrong either I generally add a note to the conversation "No response from reporter, suggest closing as not identified" and wait another week. That's a hassle but it's current protocol.

For some time I've been following the excellent suggestion of editor pumrum to add "(Open to any editor)" at the end of initial canned queries. Other editors can follow up efficiently without violating etiquette. I'd love to see that habit catch on

DwarfLord wrote:For some time I've been following the excellent suggestion of editor pumrum to add "(Open to any editor)" at the end of initial canned queries. Other editors can follow up efficiently without violating etiquette. I'd love to see that habit catch on

I love this idea. Many of the reports in the Los Angeles area have canned introductory questions with no responses and they are several months old. Of course, with busy editors, these "orphans" are somewhat off the radar.

What might help would be if Waze could send out a reminder digest, once per week, recapping all of the currently watched URs. Just a single email containing a link to all of the URs... not a separate one for each It will serve as a reminder of stale reports that should be closed, and it will also serve as a reminder of the workload the editor has volunteered for.

HI, I am new here & I'd like to offer the POV of a newbie reporter. 3 weeks ago Waze told me to turn left where it was impossible. I reported it directly in the Waze app (iOS). Today (7/30/2014) I got a very nice email from a Waze editor asking a question about where exactly the problem was.

I was eager to help supply the requested info, but sadly there was no (obvious) way to do so. The email had a reply to address of "Waze Map Editor" <no-reply@waze.com>. So that's a no go. There was a URL referenced in the email, but that also is not a way to communicate. The URL takes me to a login screen, where I finally discovered that my username had been changed (without my knowledge) to all lower case. After getting past that issue, the URL shows the location of the map problem, but there is still no way provided to respond to the Map Editor's request for info. So this could easily explain the mentioned "lack of engagement" from Users after requests for additional info. In this case, I searched the forums for the Editors nickname & eventually send him a PM. But I certainly would not expect anyone else to go to that kind of trouble to fix a left turn restriction.

After some thought, I did also visit the Waze app inbox, even though that is not the method by I got the message, and found that there is a way to reply in there. I have to say that it is a bit maddening to compose a message while only being able to see such a tiny amount of text at a time.

Anyway, just wanted to bring some beginner user perspective to this process. HTH

Thank you for your report and for taking the time to visit the forum.I believe the intended design is for the reporter's response to go through the app, but as you said, it is not that obvious the way the email is structured (and the emails that I get, the link to the map is not even clickable).Once on the live map, if you are not in editor mode, then you can click the "Edit map" button at the lower left. From there, open your user report, and once that is open, open the "Conversation" option.I might be wrong but that may already be open when you follow the link, since it appeared that you could read the reply from the map.So once there, look down at the bottom of the conversation box and you'll see a small box with a "Send" button next to it, similar to a chat response window. This is where you can directly input your reply from a desktop device. I do not believe that option is available from a mobile device.

It would be a lot better if they could reply to an email. We might get a lot more responses if this were an easier process then doing this through the app or the editor. Most people want things simple.

Helgramite wrote:I am thinking that a (new) short wiki page that describes the "response" process for users, including some treatment of responding to closed URs would be valuable. Most of the info exist, just not in a single location.

There's a thread over here that could likely use any comments you have.

mdavidsonjr wrote:It would be a lot better if they could reply to an email. We might get a lot more responses if this were an easier process then doing this through the app or the editor. Most people want things simple.

I put my email address in the request for more information, that way users can respond by email.